Hong Kong Visas Made Easy

18

Mar 2024

Can I Set Up A Hong Kong Company, Employ My Business Partner & Sponsor An Employment Visa For Him?

Posted by / in Employment Visas, Investment Visas, Your Question Answered / No responses

Sponsor an Employment Visa

The answer to this question is multi-part and ultimately driven by the challenges associated with a New Business Situation

QUESTION

I am based in Hong Kong and would like your advice on visa applications for a friend.  

A friend of mine, who is based in the US and I have been discussing a business opportunity for Hong Kong and I wanted to know the best way for him to secure a working visa.

We had discussed me setting up the company and then employing him and subsequently sponsor an employment visa through the company.

Would that work?

The alternative would be for him to apply for an investment visa as he would be the brains behind the operation.

Please can you let me know which option would be best or which would be more successful?
 
Another friend of mine who set up her own recruitment agency here in Hong Kong said that as an expat setting up a company you are unable to employ someone from overseas for the first year of your business being operational.

Is that also correct?
 
Any light you could shed on this would be greatly appreciated.

ANSWER

What a lovely question with three particular moving parts that I’d like to address.

The first moving part really relates to your own immigration status; I’m going to take the view that you don’t have an immigration problem to participate in this venture one way or the other – say, for example, because you have a dependent visa, or because you have the right of abode or unconditional stay or right to land, or one of the other two types of immigration status that exist that would allow you to participate in this venture with your business partner. So I’ll assume that there are no immigration implications that, in a sense, impact on you, because if you were an employment visa holder working for a third party employer and you wanted to join in this business, there would be an immigration implication arising for you as well as for your business partner, too. But as I say, I’ll just make the assumption that you don’t have that problem in this mix.

Therefore, turning our attention to the second issue, which is what type of mechanism would be suitable for your partner to secure immigration permissions to be in Hong Kong to carry on this business with you?

Well, whether he applies for an investment visa because he’s got the overwhelming majority of the shares in the business, or whether, for example, you decide that you’re going to split the business 50-50 between the two of you, the bottom line is that the Immigration Department will be working with a new company or a new business situation – whether it’s the investment visa or whether it’s an employment visa, because you only own a smaller percentage of the shares if it’s a new business situation, and invariably it is, because in an investment visa scenario, it’s a new business per se, then the Immigration Department will apply the approvability test for the investment visa, irrespective of how you go about couching the application; all things considered, that is, in the new business situation, they’ll look to see that the enterprise can make a substantial contribution to the economy of Hong Kong, and this would involve the creation of local employment opportunities, the establishment of a proper office, and you need to ensure that you’ve got both funding resources and operational resources. That is the types of things that are normally present that are driving you to make this investment in Hong Kong in the first place.

All of these facets of the approvability stool, as I’ve couched it, absolutely need to be present, irrespective of whether he takes an employment visa because he’s only got a smaller percentage of the shares than you, or it’s an investment visa because he’s got a clear majority of the shares, all things considered.

So one way or the other it doesn’t really matter. You’re still going to have to pass the essential elements of the approvability test which I’ve dealt with elsewhere on the blog.

The third piece to this is your own friend who set up a recruitment agency who stated it was their experience that in the first year per se you’re unable to employ someone from overseas. Um, well that’s not strictly true. Effectively the Immigration Department look at the bona fides of the applicants from the perspective of them being able to show that they posses special skills, knowledge and experience of value to not readily available in Hong Kong and that no local person can be expected to do that job. But again it doesn’t matter the age of the company. If the company is properly resourced and if the three legs of the approvability stool are all in place, then it doesn’t matter the age of the proposed sponsoring entity. It just depends on how strong and well established the business is at the time that you make the application.

Okay, I hope you found useful.

VisaGeeza.Ai – Making Hong Kong Immigration A Lot Easier

Sponsor an Employment Visa

VisaGeeza.Ai – 13 Years In The Making

Check Out VisaGeeza.Ai

All Our Know-How : All Our Experience : Fully Interactive

100% FREE!

More Stuff You May Find Useful Or Interesting

The Economy At Home Is Very Bad – So What Investment Visa Options Exist For You In Hong Kong?

I Have A Socially Advantageous Yet Modestly Capitalized Business Plan For Hong Kong – Will I Get An Investment Visa?

What’s The Situation About The Need For Business Premises As Part Of Your Hong Kong Investment Visa Application?

What’s The Minimum Capital Required For A Hong Kong Investment Visa?

10 Must Have Resources For A Successful Hong Kong Investment Visa Application

PODCAST ANSWER
Play

Please select the social network you want to share this page with:

17

Mar 2024

If I Marry A Local Girl, Get A Dependant Visa For Hong Kong Then Move To China For Work, Can I Still Get The Right Of Abode After 7 Years?

Posted by / in Family Visas, Long Stay & PR, Your Question Answered / No responses

First Published October 29, 2014 – Still Relevant

Does being married to a Hong Kong permanent resident whilst living in China impact on continuity of ordinary residence for the purposes of a right of abode application subsequently?

Dependant Visa for Hong Kong

QUESTION

Hi,

Your website is incredibly helpful! However, my situation doesn’t seem to have an answer yet, so here goes!

I’m a UK national and have been working in Hong Kong on a work visa since October 2009.

I have recently resigned from my position but my work visa is valid until February of 2015.

I am going to get married to a HK permanent resident (she was born in Hong Kong) before my work visa expires and apply for a dependent visa for Hong Kong.

My question is, will my 7 years continue through this dependent visa and in 2 years time will I be eligible to apply for my PR?

Separately, there is a good chance my future employer will relocate me to Beijing on a China work visa, but my fiancé and I will frequent Hong Kong since her family is here, and ultimately we plan to permanently return to Hong Kong within the next few years.

Will this disrupt my 7 years?

Thank you in advance for your advice!

ANSWER

At first blush, this question appears to be quite complicated, but in actual fact it’s a very simple scenario to address for immigration purposes. The first question as regards changing your status from sponsored employment through to dependent, and will that have a negative impact on your deemed continuous ordinary residence for the purposes of your eventual Right of Abode application?

A short answer is no, because as long as you’ve had a residence visa or throughout the requisite seven years, irrespective of the type, then that counts towards the immigration sailors as needed to secure the Ride of Abode. Subsequently, the bigger question really is this issue about you leaving Hong Kong to go and work in China?

If you’re going to work in China, surely you’d expect to have a work visa there to be able to do that. But you need to be careful that you don’t inadvertently abandon your continuity of ordinary residence in Hong Kong. Ostensibly, what you need to do while you’re in China is to ensure that any future deployment to China is couched as a second from your primary Hong Kong employment, which is maintained in Hong Kong throughout all that time that you’re in China; and that the temporary second and the language that surrounds that project should clearly state that you will go there, you will work there, but you’re being seconded ex Hong Kong on a temporary basis, and that it’s the full intention of you and your employer to return back to Hong Kong to recommence your formal employment in Hong Kong at the end of that temporary secondment there; if you couch it in those terms, then the reality is that the Immigration Department will allow you to have continuity of ordinary residence because it is in fact just a temporary absence from Hong Kong whilst you’re in China, even though it might be of a long or possibly short duration.

So the test for approval is continuous ordinary residence for a period of not less than seven years, where any absences from Hong Kong in that time have been of a merely temporary nature, as evidenced by what you leave behind to return back to at the end of each temporary stay abroad.

So given that you will be married to a Hong Kong permanent resident, a local girl, and your assignment in China is going to be promulgated, your employment in Hong Kong into China on a temporary basis, even if it does transpire to be a few years that you’re there and you come back to Hong Kong frequently and when you do return to Hong Kong, you will recommence your Hong Kong employment once all over again with your employer that sent you to China in the first place.  If you can couch it in those terms, you should be fine. Okay, I hope you found this useful.

VisaGeeza.Ai – Making Hong Kong Immigration A Lot Easier

Dependant Visa for Hong Kong

VisaGeeza.Ai – 13 Years In The Making

Check Out VisaGeeza.Ai

All Our Know-How : All Our Experience : Fully Interactive

100% FREE!

More Stuff You May Find Useful Or Interesting

PODCAST ANSWER
Play

Please select the social network you want to share this page with:

16

Mar 2024

Am I Compelled To Apply For Hong Kong Permanent Residency After 7 Years Or Can I Maintain The Status Quo Of My Present Employment Visa?

Posted by / in Employment Visas, Long Stay & PR, Your Question Answered / 3 responses

Hong Kong Permanent Residency

Once you have achieved 7 years continuous ordinary residence in Hong Kong, your long stay immigration options open up considerably…

QUESTION

My current working visa is due to expire at the end of  September, (previously I was given an extension of 3 years in 2010), this I assume was so that I would be valid for Hong Kong Permanent Residency, (as I have been here for over 7 years now).

My question is should I seek Hong Kong Permanent Residency and/or can I just continue to add an extension to my working visa if I don’t want Hong Kong Permanent Residency?

 In addition, for either of these cases, do I have to always change/add my wife’s and 2 children’s passports visa extension to reflect these changes, (my wife would have been here for 6 years and my kids were born here in 2008 and 2011 (do they also become PR’s on the back of me?)

ANSWER

This is a great question and slightly unusual inasmuch as the vast majority of foreign nationals who spend their time in Hong Kong see the Right of Abode and Permanent Residency as a sort of the ultimate end goal. But you do raise some fascinating topics and I’m really pleased to have the opportunity to address them for you.

The bottom line is that no, you absolutely do not have to apply for Permanent Residency. Once you’ve gotten across the seven-year hurdle, by no means at all are you forced to do that or indeed anything. If you wish to maintain your current employment visa on an ongoing basis, then you just go through the process of extending your employment visa in September of this year, using the normal processes – you could use our visa extension kit to this end to do that, and you’d expect the immigration department would more than likely give you a three-year period of stay.

Given that you are eligible for the Right of Abode, you are certainly not compelled. I mean, a key thing about the ride of abode is that you need to put your hand on your heart and make a declaration that you’re taking Hong Kong as your only place of permanent residence. So if you can’t genuinely do that for good – reason the question is begged as to what happens come September, do you in fact need to extend your current employment visa, which at all times will require the support of your current employer? You do, in fact have another option, and that is to apply for Unconditional Stay.

This effectively is very much a similar test to the Right of Abode where you have to show that you’ve been continuously an ordinarily resident in Hong Kong for a period of not less than seven years. On the basis you pass that approvability test, then the immigration department will avail you of a status called Unconditional Stay, which means, effectively you can stay here unconditionally, and you don’t require the consent of your existing employer.

In respect of extending an employment visa, you remove all conditions to your current limit of stay including a limit of time, and then they will endorse your passport to say that effectively you’ve got Unconditional Stay and that you can live here unconditionally. The only condition associated to your Unconditional Stay is that you need to be present physically in Hong Kong on at least one occasion in any twelve month given period.

So, effectively with Unconditional Stay you can come and go, you can work for anybody, you can join in the business, you can engage in any lawful activity just so long as you do it in Hong Kong on the basis of you having been here for on at least one occasion in any twelve month given period.

Thus, for that status of Unconditional Stay which is just an administrative convenience on the part of the Immigration Department rather than a right (as it would be under the Right of Abode), there’s no requirement for you to make any declarations as to having taken Hong Kong as your only place of permanent residence. So you may find that useful.

In terms of your family members, the reality is that every single one of your family members, both your two children and your wife are going to have to qualify for the Right of Abode by themselves inasmuch as they will have to get to seven years continuous ordinary residence and they will then have to make applications to the effect that they’ve taken Hong Kong as their only place of permanent residence and go on to secure the Right of Abode.

Similarly after seven years, you can make applications for them to have Unconditional Stay status so that it would accord with yours, on the basis that your family members do continue to remain in Hong Kong with you whilst or after you’ve adjusted your immigration status potentially to Unconditional Stay or the Right of Abode, they’re going to have to continue their current dependent visa status through to such a time that they qualify for either unconditional stay or ride of abode in their own right. Nothing will happen automatically just because you’ve changed your own immigration status. They have to earn it independently of you as. So they would get extensions to their dependent visas until such a time as they be able to make an application for either as I say, unconditional stay or the right of abode in their own right subsequently. Okay, I hope you found that useful. Bye.

VisaGeeza.Ai – Making Hong Kong Immigration A Lot Easier

Hong Kong Permanent Residency

VisaGeeza.Ai – 13 Years In The Making

Check Out VisaGeeza.Ai

All Our Know-How : All Our Experience : Fully Interactive

100% FREE!

More Stuff You May Find Interesting Or Useful

How Does Hong Kong Right Of Abode Downgrade To The Right To Land Materialize And What Are The Immigration Implications Of This?

I Worked In Hong Kong For 4 Years – Then Left For 2 – And Have A Valid Visa In My Passport – Can I Still Work & Then Apply For The Right Of Abode?

Will I Still Qualify For The Right Of Abode If I Worked Temporarily In Macau Yet Lived In Hong Kong For The Full 7 Years?

Does My Child Get The Right Of Abode If She Wasn’t Born In Hong Kong But I Have The Right To Land?

Strategy On How To Craft An Argument To Appeal A Refused Hong Kong Right Of Abode Application

PODCAST ANSWER
Play

Please select the social network you want to share this page with:

15

Mar 2024

QOTW: Can I Get An Employment Visa Again If I Still Owe Taxes From The Last Time I Worked In Hong Kong?

Posted by / in Case Study, Employment Visas, Your Question Answered / No responses

Employment Visa Again

What is the interplay between unpaid taxes and a Hong Kong employment visa application subsequently?

QUESTION

Hi,

I worked in Hong Kong last year, 2013, and left the city mid year after my work terminated.

When I left, my company filed a IR56G “leaving Hong Kong” tax form for me with the IRD.

However, I never followed up to see how much remainder taxes I owed for salary in 2013.

Now, I have just received an offer to come back to Hong Kong and the employer will be applying for a work visa for me.

Will my visa have difficulty being approved if I may have IRD payments to make?

I do not wish to delay my work visa from being approved. 

ANSWER

Whilst this is really a question that relates to tax and not immigration as such, there is a slight interplay between the two; effectively, you’re supposed to clear all outstanding taxation obligations if you’re a foreign national and you are leaving Hong Kong ostensibly permanently. Your employer does have certain obligations in relation to reporting the fact of your departure and then holding on to your last salary to again clear up any potential taxation obligations that sit in your hands as a result of your time spent working here previously. If that was never cleared up then you will still have an open file with the Inland Revenue Department and given that you’re now effectively wanting to come back to Hong Kong, notwithstanding the fact that there will be an immigration dimension to this, you really should clear up your taxes – approach the Inland Revenue Department, explain what’s going on and submit yourself for assessment.

Whatever the bill is, pay it, and then you can rest assured that the Immigration Department won’t be effectively looking at your application for a new employment visa through the lens of not having paid your taxes previously.

In a nutshell, get it sorted out so that it doesn’t have an impact at all on your new visa application. Good luck!

VisaGeeza.Ai – Making Hong Kong Immigration A Lot Easier

Employment Visa Again

VisaGeeza.Ai – 13 Years In The Making

Check Out VisaGeeza.Ai

All Our Know-How : All Our Experience : Fully Interactive

100% FREE!

More Stuff You May Find Useful Or Interesting

Do You Need A Hong Kong Employment Visa If You Work For A Hong Kong Company But Not In Hong Kong?

Is There Such An Animal As A ‘Flexible Working Visa’ For Hong Kong?

Interview: Do You Think That IANG Allows A Loophole For Foreign Graduates To Game The Immigration System Here?

Lame Excuses Won’t Cut It If You’re Caught Working In Hong Kong Without An Employment Visa

What Will The Immigration Department Make Of A Third Party Objection To An Application For A Hong Kong Investment Visa?

Please select the social network you want to share this page with:

14

Mar 2024

What Are The Obligations Of An Employer To A Prospective Employee When An Application For A Hong Kong Employment Visa Has Been Refused?

Posted by / in Employment Visas, Musing, Refusals & Appeals / 4 responses

Foreign nationals seeking to work in Hong Kong have a lot of stake in an employment visa application so when it doesn’t work out positively where does that leave their proposed relationship?

employment visa

QUESTION

Hi,

After the recruitment process in a multinational company in Hong Kong, they decided to employ me, so I signed the offer job letter with all terms and conditions and I provided them all documents requested for the visa.

After about a month, a received an email from the company: my employment visa application was refused, as ImmD consider my position could be filled my a person from the local labour market.

I tried to convince my boss to make the application again but they denied saying that a successful result was not guaranteed and they could not wait longer.

Basics of the position:

– Native spanish, fluent english, experience in sales and customer service.

– Salary 16,000 hkd per month

My questions are:

(1)  Doesn’t the company have any responsibility in the application process about starting again the application (in the offer letter says the employment is subject to the Visa working permit)?

(2) Is it common that after a visa application is rejected the company does not provide any help or solution?

(3) Taking into account that companies try always to employ people who already has visa to save money and time, how much is the cost of the working visa for them?

Thank you in advance.

VisaGeeza.Ai – Making Hong Kong Immigration A Lot Easier

employment visa

VisaGeeza.Ai – 13 Years In The Making

Check Out VisaGeeza.Ai

All Our Know-How : All Our Experience : Fully Interactive

100% FREE!

More Stuff You May Find Useful or Interesting

PODCAST ANSWER

Please select the social network you want to share this page with:

13

Mar 2024

Why Do Hong Kong Technology Startups Mostly Struggle To Win Investment Visa Approvals For Their Founders?

Posted by / in 60 Second Snapshot, Employment Visas, Investment Visas / No responses

I’m often asked how feasible business investment visas are for foreign nationals seeking to establish a new technology start up here.

Bootstrappping and running Lean can be a double edged sword as a foreign national starting up in Hong Kong…

The actual extent of the challenge is, in fact, no more onerous than it has always been – namely the foreign entrepreneur needs to be able to show that he or she can make a substantial contribution to the economy of Hong Kong in order to have a business investment visa application approved.

To this end, the normal three legged business investment visa approvability test must be satisfied, namely that the business must be homed in premises suitable for the business, there must be a clear pathway to the creation of local employment opportunities and the business must be properly resourced, meaning sufficient cash and other business-critical resources present so that the Immigration Department can be satisfied that the business will go on to become a solidly entrenched commercial enterprise.

But here’s the problem with most technology start ups.

Unless very well funded from the outset, most of them are boot strapped, most of them are run according to the Lean philosophy – and most of them fail, and the Immigration Department know this.

Where the present approvability criteria demand a ‘substantial contribution to the economy of Hong Kong’ the vast majority of technology start ups are simply unable to pass the test – making Hong Kong a very hard place indeed for foreign blood to come in and help Hong Kong transition into a fully fledged connection economy.

There are ways to improve your chances of success, though, requiring a realignment of your plans and an increase in available capital to fund your ambitions.

VisaGeeza.Ai – Making Hong Kong Immigration A Lot Easier

investment visa

VisaGeeza.Ai – 13 Years In The Making

Check Out VisaGeeza.Ai

All Our Know-How : All Our Experience : Fully Interactive

100% FREE!

More Stuff You May Find Useful Or Interesting

Will Performance-Based Equity Compensation Suffice Instead Of A Cash Salary For A Hong Kong Employment Visa?

Are Such Facilities As Virtual Offices, Incubators, Serviced Offices & Co-Working Spaces Deemed ‘Suitable Business Premises’ For The Purposes Of A Hong Kong Business Investment Visa Application?

The Foibles Of Hong Kong Visa & Immigration Applications That Only Experience Can Fully Appreciate

How To Apply For A Hong Kong Investment Visa Without Any Professional Help!

The Anatomy Of A ‘Slam Dunk’ Hong Kong Investment Visa Application Taking Just 7 Weeks To Approval!

Please select the social network you want to share this page with:

12

Mar 2024

The Quality Migrant Admission Scheme – A Practical Guide

Posted by / in Musing, Special Programmes / No responses

In this section of the talk, I talk about the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme (QMAS) – this much maligned programme that is ‘on the books’ so we continue to provide coverage of it (of course!)

On March 21, 2014 I gave a presentation at the Chinese Club entitled Business Immigration to Hong Kong – A Practical Guide. The content is still relevant today and can be summarised as follows:

The purpose of the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme is to attract highly skilled or talented individuals to settle in Hong Kong, with the aim of enhancing Hong Kong’s economic competitiveness. Unlike other visa schemes, successful applicants are not required to have secured a job offer in Hong Kong prior to their arrival. However, all applicants must meet a set of prerequisites before they can be awarded points under one of the two points-based tests: the General Points Test and the Achievement-based Points Test. These tests are used to assess applicants’ eligibility and allocate quotas accordingly.

To apply for the Scheme, the applicant must:

– Be at least 18 years old

– Prove financial capability to support themselves and any dependents during their stay without public assistance

– Have no criminal or immigration records

– Be proficient in Chinese or English

– Have a good education background, preferably with a university degree or equivalent qualifications

If the applicant fails to provide satisfactory documents to prove that they meet these requirements, their application will be refused immediately.

VisaGeeza.Ai – Making Hong Kong Immigration A Lot Easier

Quality Migrant Admission Scheme

VisaGeeza.Ai – 13 Years In The Making

Check Out VisaGeeza.Ai

All Our Know-How : All Our Experience : Fully Interactive

100% FREE!

More Stuff You May Find Useful Or Interesting

Please select the social network you want to share this page with: